


Forgiveness

by imnotcrazyiswear, KilljoysNeverDie



Series: Of Tricksters and Archangels [7]
Category: Supernatural, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Cats, Drinking, Drunk Gabriel, Drunk Loki, Heaven, I'm Sorry, Loss of Trust, Miðgarðr | Midgard, Talking, Trust, a little ooc, faith - Freeform, no i'm not, Ásgarðr | Asgard (realm)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-19
Updated: 2014-04-19
Packaged: 2018-01-19 22:42:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1486828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imnotcrazyiswear/pseuds/imnotcrazyiswear, https://archiveofourown.org/users/KilljoysNeverDie/pseuds/KilljoysNeverDie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They talk again and Gabriel has enough faith to show Loki his true form.<br/>They get kind of drunk in the end and that's where it becomes more OOC. There are cats, though. A lot of cats.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forgiveness

**Author's Note:**

> I regret nothing.

The light shone bright and illuminated everything around him in gold and glowing colors. He was used to it by now – again. Gabriel had tried to go back to what he had done before he encountered Loki – well actually back to what he used to do before he created his witness protection.  
  
He had to deal with a lot of stuff right now and wished more than since a long time that Michael could be there to help him. Or his father. He would know what to do. None of them would be overwhelmed by their sadness or thoughts about former times. About whether forgiveness was the right thing or forgetting was the better way to go.  
  
He sighed deeply and took a look around. He had wandered off for once to look at parts of Heaven he hadn’t seen in longer than … he didn’t even know. He just wanted some time for himself.  
  
He didn’t expect to meet anyone so far away from everything but he smiled a little when he saw the other Angel. “Raziel, good to see you. How were you doing while I was gone?” Raziel was an angel of wisdom that helped to fight the evil and Gabriel had always liked him. He was probably one of the oldest angels he knew and talking to him was always freeing in a strange way.  
  
“Gabriel, greetings. It’s been hard but your brothers took really good care of everything. No one thought you’d return, to be honest.” He smiled slightly and they started walking next to each other along the small river leading a way through the seemingly endless field of grass and flowers.  
  
“I’m really sorry but you know what was happening here and I just didn’t want any of this. I never wanted this much power and out of the sudden everything seems to depend on my decisions.” He sighed and looked down to his shoes.  
  
“I know, I spent a lot time away from them as well. But I had to stay here. If you wish I will come with you and see if I can help with all that. I would be happy to have a decent purpose again.” His eyes were a bit sad when the archangel looked at him.  
  
“Please don’t assume that you are some kind of useless. I would love if you’d agree on helping me with the organization. I don’t think I can manage it all on my own. Not now where-” he actually wanted to explain himself some more but he was interrupted by a voice in his head. An very familiar and by now well known voice that affected him more than any telepathic or praying voice – feather-magic.  
  
“I’m sorry, Raziel, I gotta go.” He smiled a last time and disappeared from the wise angel’s view to appear in a castle-like mansion in a darker part of Heaven. He wouldn’t say anything, just listen for now.  
  
Loki sat on the throne of Asgard, sighing. Having all the power he ever desired wasn’t as funny as he had thought it would be. All day he had to deal with politics, with people he hated and with Thor.  
Also, Gabriel wasn’t there, another reason why he was bored. In his hands, he held the feather the archangel had left for him.  
  
 _It has been a long time since we saw each other._ Loki thought and frowned.  
  
 _I desire to journey with you again, brother. But sadly you do not trust me enough, is that not true? I deeply regret what had happened._  
  
Gabriel sat down in a huge, old armchair and sighed on the inside. He missed it, too. But he was way too proud to give in and let the god hear any of that yet. He just wished something – non-alcoholic – in his hand and concentrated on listening to every of the god’s words. It was somehow quite nice to hear that he wasn’t the only one who missed all that.  
  
The god looked down on the feather in his hand and smiled slightly.  
  
 _I never really wanted the throne._ Loki thought and sighed.  
  
 _All I wanted was to be Thor equal. But now what? I am king of Asgard, and Thor swore to protect the nine realms.  
_  
A soft laugh escaped him, which made the guards in the hall look up.  
  
 _Now I just want to leave this realm and never return.  
_  
Gabriel listened carefully and took a long moment to think about what he heard the god saying.  
  
He couldn’t believe he was really doing this. _Come here so we can talk then. When you see a possible way for that. I could maybe see what I can do to … help you._ he wasn’t even sure if he wanted that. But maybe a small part of him wanted to trust Loki again (he told himself that that would be incredibly naive in a way though) and an even smaller part of him was scared that the god – and now king – would be toobored soon and could be the reason for a lot of damage in more than just his own world.

  
Loki nearly jumped when he heard Gabriel’s voice in his head, but instantly the god felt the tense feeling which had filled him before fade. The god wanted to laugh, so relieved was he that Gabriel decided to talk to him.  
  
 _I would love that, but first you have to tell me where ‘here’ is.  
_  
Yeah, that probably made sense. Gabriel smiled slightly.  
  
 _I’m at home but I can go where ever you think you’d be able to come. As long as it’s within my reach.  
_  
Since it was probably impossible for Loki to go to Heaven on his own… and even if he could, he wouldn’t find whom he was looking for.  
  
 _It would be the easiest to meet in midgard. Do you agree?  
_  
The god couldn’t stop to smile. He stood up from the throne and started to walk towards the huge doors, when a servant spoke up.  
  
“Forgive me, my king.” He began softly and Loki rolled his eyes.  
  
“You still have a negotiation with the dwarves, or do you want me to cancel it?”  
  
While walking, the god sighed.  
  
“Cancel it.” He simply answered and left the room.  
  
 _Dumb fool..._  
  
 _You are right, I suppose. Do you have any_ _thing_ _special in mind or will you just come and see me at the mansion I showed you?_ Gabriel emptied his glass and looked down on his vessel. He could use some new clothes … with a snap of his fingers that wasn’t a problem anymore and he left the house through one of the magic doors to reappear next to the huge white building. He would tell them that he’d be gone for some time again.  
  
 _The mansion will be just perfect._ Loki answered grinning as he made his way to the stables. Every person he met greeted him respectfully and bowed. Normally, Loki would’ve enjoyed that, but it was getting annoying to get held up that way.  
  
When he arrived at the stables of the palace a servant brought him Sleipnir. With an honest smile Loki took the reign and stroke over the horses mane.  
  
“Hello, my boy.” The god said softly as he mounted the eight legged horse.  
  
“We shall ride to the Bifröst!”  
  
A small sigh escaped him as Sleipnir began gallop in the direction of the bridge. He didn’t exactly like to travel that way, but the people would start to ask questions when Odin would take a hidden path to travel between the worlds.  
  
 _I will wait for you there_.  
  
 _Just … don’t let anyone know where it is_ he had wanted to add but he didn’t. Loki was probably smart enough to think about that without being told.  
  
He entered the building and nodded at the few angels he passed. He found Raziel after looking into some of the huge rooms and a warm smile appeared on his lips. “I’m going to spend some more time on earth. Do you think you can keep everything going while I am gone?”  
  
“If you want me to.” He nodded and smiled back. “Good luck with whatever is important enough to travel that far.” He added before he went back to work.  
  
Gabriel didn’t bother to say anything else and just brought himself down into the living room area of the mansion where he sat down onto a sofa and thought about what was going to happen. Maybe it really was a good idea somehow.  
  
 _Not if I get there first!_ The god thought grinning and quickened the pace of his horse. It didn’t take Loki long to reach the Bifröst. With a slight nod to Heimdall, who didn’t know Odin wasn’t Odin anymore, he motioned for the other god to open the bridge to midgard.  
  
The guard didn’t ask questions, that was one of the few things Loki liked about Heimdall. He opened the Bifröst almost immediately when the god of mischief dismounted his horse.  
  
Grinning Loki stepped trough the rainbow-coloured vortex. He grimaced about as he was pushed trough the Universe. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant feeling in Loki’s opinion.  
  
A few moments later he was standing in a circle, which marked where the Bifröst had opened. With a slight smile the god looked around and saw that he already stood in front of Gabriel’s mansion. Sighing he changed back from Odin into Loki, which was way more comfortable.

  
Gabriel somehow knew that his guest was there after a some time. He didn’t wait long and he was a little confused by how the atmosphere shifted but he felt the well known energy shortly after. He assumed that Loki would find the way alone and remained sitting – now a more polite than anything else smile on his lips.  
  
Slowly Loki walked to the entrance of the mansion, sighing when he entered the house. Somehow he just knew where he’d find Gabriel and made his way to the living room. The whole time his heart was pounding like crazy and that was something Loki didn’t like.  
  
Gabriel started drumming his fingers against his thigh and tried to feel every of Loki’s moves.  
  
He wished some of the craig he kept for Crowley into his free hand and closed his eyes for a mere second. When he opened them again he had his eyes fixed on the door, a slight, still polite smile on his lips.  
  
With one fluent motion, Loki opened the door and entered the living room. When he saw the archangel Loki had to swallow. The look on Gabriel’s face reminded him so much of the look Odin had reserved specially for him.  
  
“Gabriel.” Loki said softly and tried to smile but failed miserably.  
  
When Loki entered his view he considered it for a second but stood up in the end to step a little closer to the god. He didn’t say a word, just sat his glass down to be able to cross his arms and nod his head once.  
  
The god cleared his throat. That was a really awkward situation.  
  
“Well…” Loki began slowly and looked down to the floor which suddenly seemed very interesting. “Here I am.”  
  
A nervous laugh escaped the black haired god and was quickly followed by a soft sigh. Why was he suddenly feeling like a small child which was caught sneaking around places he wasn’t supposed to be? It didn’t made sense!  
  
Gabriel nodded again, slowly. “Whether you believe it or not I can see that.” He didn’t mean to but he used the voice he used when he was speaking to other angels. Those you wanted him to tell them what to do next. It was just a thing that he got used to over the time since he was in Heaven again and right now he felt save in a strange way when he talked like this. “You don’t want the throne anymore.” It wasn’t a question.  
  
Loki nodded slowly, a dark grin forming on his lips.  
  
“Ironic, is it not?” He answered darkly.  
  
“The thing I desired the most is now a burden.”  
  
Without asking, Loki sat down on the big sofa. The god never looked directly at Gabriel.  
  
He didn’t sit down again, just turned around to face the Norse. This time was different from when he had to yank him out of the medieval battle. This time he didn’t mind to fulfill all the things that made it seem as if he thought better and more powerful about himself than Loki.  
  
“It’s something that I know myself. The only difference is that I never wanted the position of being in charge over a whole world.”  
  
“What do you want to do about it?” The god finally asked and looked at Gabriel.  
  
The shadows under his eyes had turned into a dark purple and his skin was as white as snow. When he was younger Loki had thought that it would be fun to rule over Asgard, but now it was just draining all of his energy.  
  
“My situation? Nothing. Because this is maybe not what I want and probably not at all what was supposed to happen after Lucifer and Michael, but this is what is right. If I don’t keep an eye on everything someone is probably going to blow up this planet.” _And now I have to make sure that this person won’t be you so let’s find a damn solution for this._ he didn’t allow himself to sigh but that was what he would have liked to do a lot at that moment.  
  
“Will you stay in Asgard nonetheless and live with what you got yourself into or do you want me to look for another way?”  
  
“You will not find another way, because there is no other.” Loki answered silently.  
  
“I can not bring Odin back. And if I did so anyway, he would imprison me again.”  
  
The god frowned and focused on Gabriel.  
  
“I can not do that Gabriel. I can not go back into that cage!” He practically shouted and stood back up. It would drive him mad to sit around all day, nothing to do but read the books he already read multiple times.  
  
“Maybe I should just end it all.”  
  
Gabriel remained standing in the exact same spot. He didn’t even think about moving from there.  
  
“If Heaven and Hell worked together – not just me and Crowley, well, of course only the two of us would know about it there is no way you could make normal angels and demons work together – but if we did, do you think we could let you just … disappear? Not _you_ but your energy. I know you are pretty gifted yourself but you still leave some magic now and then. I know a way that you wouldn’t but do you think it would be strong enough to deceive Odin?” They would have to work a lot for that and Gabriel wasn’t even sure why but he thought that could be the right way. For the next one- or two- hundred years at least.  
  
Loki began to laugh loud. Gabriel couldn’t be serious, could he? Deceive Odin, the allfather? That wasn’t possible!  
  
“I am very sorry, but not even all your forces combined would be strong enough to deceive Odin.” The god said and had to stop himself from chuckling.  
  
“I am going to destroy Asgard, then the rest of the nine realms. After that, I will not have that problem anymore.”  
  
A hint of madness entered his eyes and Loki turned to the window, grinning like a maniac.  
  
Yeah, he had thought that the answer would be something like that.  
  
“Then just stay here. Just don’t return there. Because when there is a war I will always protect what is mine – and when that means to fight with others against you … so be it. I changed. I am more archangel than trickster again, that’s how it should be. I don’t want to make you a captive or kill you but when there is a war … Michael isn’t dead and he will return to protect what is his. He’s just … witness protection maybe. Different from mine. He is as powerful as I am and the most dangerous warrior of Heaven. You don’t want to put up with both of us.” He didn’t mean it as a threat, just a warning. It was the truth after all. No one would let Loki destroy everything without a fight and at least Thor knew about a little of Gabriel’s power. He had seen enough of it. He didn’t know the other brother but if he asked for help…  
  
Gabriel wasn’t even sure if that made sense at all. He just wanted to talk Loki out of destroying where he used to live, what he – maybe – called home once and what is still home to his brother.  
  
When Loki turned around to face Gabriel, his expression had changed. It was filled with madness and a slight hint of pain.  
  
“Oh and what are you going to do if I destroy every realm but earth?” The god asked and tilted his head to the right.  
  
“Or do you only care about the mortals?” Loki’s voice was filled with distaste. It bothered him more than he wanted to admit, that Gabriel seemed to change back into the person he was supposed to be.  
  
Gabriel shook his head. “I will fight with whoever offers to _never_ try to attack Heaven, Earth or even Hell and just wants some backup in return. I don’t have the freedom to decide who that will be. That’s the problem with having so much power – decisions that could kill those you care about like family is supposed to be even after you got betrayed in a way and thought you couldn’t trust again. The problems are just there in case you _do_ trust them again, though. And that is exactly _my_ problem.” He turned to get his glass back and empty it.  
  
“It changes people. Seeing what cam happen when they let someone too close. Even if they don’t want to change.” He added more silent. He tried to ignore what he saw in Loki’s face but failed.  
  
“What are you talking about?” Loki asked dangerously soft and frowned. He wasn’t sure what Gabriel was alluding to and the god wasn’t sure if he wanted to know, either.  
  
He took a step closer to the archangel and observed the man with his cold stare.  
  
 _Being drunk would be a nice thing right now_ he thought bitterly and let the glass vanish out of his hand into the sink of the open kitchen.  
  
“It’s not important what exactly I am talking about. The short form is that I did trust you, which seemed not all too wise, now a part of me somehow tries to convince me that being good with you and being able to trust you would be the closest to my personal Heaven that I can be ever again. Because right now ‘Heaven’ is where I work but home would be where I know I am accepted for who I really am and where I can trust blindly. But it is not wise to try to find home when you are the last present archangel, it seems. And so I lose myself in my work. Ruling Heaven – work. Supporting allies – work. And it seems like I’m not supposed to have a place like home.” The bitterness of his thoughts even reached his voice while he tried to not retell his whole life-story but still clarify what he was talking about.  
  
The god didn’t respond, he didn’t know what to say. He really wanted that Gabriel could trust him again and he really wanted that the archangel finds a place to call home. There still was the possibility to destroy midgard so Gabriel wouldn’t have to protect that pathetic realm anymore. Then the archangel could do whatever he wanted. _Maybe_ Loki thought _I should do it. Gabriel would kill me, but when his grief for the mortals fades he could find a new place to live. A new place to call home. It would be worth it.  
_  
He didn’t want to but for a few moments he looked down to the ground. “And what do I have now? Some soldiers, a brother that I don’t know what to think about right now and maybe some reason to stay alive, like trying to rebuilt the humans believe or faith in religion of any kind. Wouldn’t it be a sin and wouldn’t I be able to switch my emotions out for a little time now and then … I probably wouldn’t have lived until today. But I will just have to live with the knowledge that Death hates me and sadness is a huge part in my existence. Maybe I will even be able to shove it away and hide it behind tricks and smiles again.” He knew how vulnerable he made himself when he talked about his feelings so openly but he couldn't care less at that moment.  
  
He took a deep breath and looked at the god. “I am sorry. You shouldn’t have to listen to such unimportant things. There are things that need to be done and then there are feelings.” He meant it. He missed the time where he hadn’t cared about such human feelings but he used to spend a lot of time with them and maybe that changed him a little more than he’d ever admit.  
  
Loki swallowed.  
  
“ _I_ am sorry.” He said and looked over to Gabriel. “You should not be burdened with so many things.”  
  
For a moment the god seemed to be really sad. A low sigh escaped him as he looked out of the window again with his arms crossed.  
  
Everything had begun so good. Gabriel and him had had fun, they were friends and brothers and now – now everything was getting worse and worse. It wasn’t fair.  
  
“It’s not important. I dealt with it for billions of years – living as graceful and annoyingly kind being.” He shook his head just barely noticeable and got some of the heavenly poisonous-drink. “What are you going to do now? Honestly, do you want to declare war to Asgard? Alone?”  
  
Loki just shrugged.  
  
“They are weak.” He simply said and continued to look out of the window.  
  
“And I can talk anyone into giving me an army, if I wanted one.”  
  
Gabriel sighed and went back to the sofa to sit down and close his eyes. “Do you really want to destroy where you grew up? It can’t mean nothing to you, can it? I know there are a lot of bad memories but you do have to remember at least _anything_ good?”  
  
“The last good thing in Asgard was Frigga and she is dead.”  
  
The god answered softly, trying to hide the pain in his voice.  
  
“There is nothing that stops me from burning down everything now.”  
  
For a moment Loki closed his eyes, imagining how everyone he hated was turning into ash. A mad smile sneaked onto his face, as he opened his eyes again.  
  
Gabriel turned his eyes to the god again. He looked at him for a seemingly endless moment and studied every part of his expression he could see with his eyes. “And after that? You can’t just destroy _everything._ Where is the difference between being locked away and being alone in a strange world? Loneliness isn’t different just because you have an illusion of freedom.” Or, was it?  
  
A soft laugh escaped Loki, as he sat down next to Gabriel.  
  
“There are so many things to do!” He said enthusiastically.  
  
“When I have destroyed Asgard, Jotunheim will be the next realm to fall.”  
  
A small grin was forming on his lips as he clapped his hands.  
  
“And I will not be lonely.”  
  
Gabriel frowned slightly and refilled his glass. “But aren’t you the heir of the throne or something like that? I mean, maybe you don’t really like any of that but where is the point in destroying it?”  
  
He took a sip of his drink. “Why do you think you won’t be lonely?”  
  
“I am not a _real_ frostgiant. In their eyes I am an abomination.”  
  
Loki answered Gabriel’s first question before he continued.  
  
“You are there. So why would I be lonely?”  
  
He glanced over to the archangel’s glass and rolled his eyes.  
  
“You should not drink so much.”  
  
“I won’t support you in this.” He said after a second of hesitation. “So that makes you lonely in a way. Until you decide to not destroy everything around you, at least.”  
  
He looked down at his glass. “I drink how much I want. I’m a grown up. Or do you want something to drink?” He hadn’t even asked that yet. Maybe that was impolite in a way but on the other hands side … the god didn’t ask for something, either.  
  
The god grimaced slightly. He hated every word of what Gabriel just said.  
  
“I do not ask for your support.” Loki said annoyed. “And I do not want anything to drink.”  
  
“You never ask for anything when it’s not me, right? And even when it’s me you don’t like to ask politely, right?” He sighed and emptied his glass again before it disappeared. “Give me one good reason to trust you again and maybe you find a way to proof that it’s not wasted time to believe you.” He could work with just the reason, though.  
  
“There is no reason to trust me.” Loki answered smiling.  
  
“But I do trust you. With my life.”  
  
The god really couldn’t tell Gabriel a reason why he was trustworthy and it made him a bit angry, but his face just showed honesty. Maybe it was enough for the archangel to know that Loki would never hurt him – intentionally.  
  
“Promise me something then. _On your life_ you hear me?” He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. Gabriel wanted to trust the god, he really did. But it wasn't easy right now.  
  
He turned his eyes back to the god again. “It doesn’t even matter weather you promise it or not. If you try it, I will punish or even kill you.” He took a deep breath. “Dare you if you try to do any harm to my world – that means, Heaven, Earth and Hell since Crowley is important to me in a way.”  
  
“Fine.” Loki grumbled and rolled his eyes.  
  
 _But everything would be so much better without midgard._ The god thought . He had to bite his lip so he wouldn’t say it out loud. There were different things that had to be discussed.  
  
“You would really kill me?” Loki asked after a while and looked to the archangel. A hint of sadness and betrayal entered his eyes and the god couldn’t stop from noticing how similar Gabriel was to Thor now.  
  
Gabriel clenched his teeth and had to look away.  
  
“I’d let you choose between Lucifer’s cage and death. It would probably kill myself but I promised to keep humanity save once. I’d have no other choice.” _Please don’t think it would be easy. Please don’t think I want to harm you. Please._ but he didn’t say it out loud.  
  
“A cage?” Loki asked suddenly and raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Oh I would prefer death!” He said darkly and clenched his hands into fists.  
  
“But you promised me something, too. Remember?”  
  
The god stood up again and began to pace around the room like a caged lion. He really hoped Gabriel would remember it, because if he didn’t… Well, he would be exactly like Thor and that was something that would destroy Loki.  
  
Gabriel let his eyes wander to the ground. _Father has given up on humanity, it seems. So why don’t you?_ he sighed. “Don’t do this to me. Don’t let me choose between my father and my brother…” his voice was just a whisper and he wasn’t even sure if the god could hear him.  
  
Loki sighed and leaned against the wall next to him.  
  
“You do not have to choose.” He said softly and swallowed. Even though Loki never had a healthy relationship with his father, he could understand how hard it was to turn against the own family. _How do the mortals say? Blood is thicker than water? How true..._ The god thought shrugging. “That would not be fair to you.”  
  
Gabriel nodded slowly and looked up at Loki again. “Thank you, I think? Just … just let me what is left of my life, okay?” He tried a small smile.  
  
“And whatever I’ve said don’t listen to me. I’m an idiot and I don’t lie but just because I said I would kill you doesn’t mean that I won’t wait until my own last day. We don’t lie but I love bending the truth. If that’s not an option for me I at least want you to be able to be sure that you can trust me.” He would probably even prove it to him in a way that he never used before.  
  
“I told you before” Loki said a bit irritated.  
  
“I do trust you, Gabriel.”  
  
The god frowned and analyzed the other man. What was he planning? Whatever it was Loki was getting curious.  
  
Gabriel frowned slightly. “You’d be the first to trust an angel to a rate of hundred percent after finding out that we are no pets…” he was glad though. “Tell me, how much do you trust me now after I told you I’d kill you? Sometimes killing someone is the best way to save them from themselves, too. Did you think about that?”  
  
The look in Loki’s eyes hardened.  
  
“I do trust you with my life.” He repeated and grinned darkly.  
  
“I do not fear death. In the underworld I can finally meet my daughter again.”  
  
A few moments the god looked down to his hands, before he focused on the archangel again. “But I do not agree with you on that subject, my friend.”  
  
“You don’t? That’s a surprise. No, not really. Okay, tell me then. Why am I wrong, kiddo?” He stood up to be able to at least pretend that they were on eye level. He _really_ needed a taller vessel when he tried to talk to the god.  
  
“If someone does not want to be saved, not even death can help them.” He explained softly. “Even then they still can cause destruction and chaos, like they wanted. Sometimes it is better to just leave them alone.”  
  
The god grinned slightly and tilted his head a bit to the right.  
  
“That could be counted as a threat.” Gabriel was surprised himself but a small smile appeared on his lips. An honest one.  
  
“Tell me it was no threat – mean it or not – and maybe I could … yes, I can. Do you want to see something no one that is not an angel saw before? I’m not sure if it’ll mean anything to you but it would be like a promise to me. One written in blood.” Contracts that were written for eternity used to be sealed with blood (and a kiss when you made a deal with a demon but that doesn’t count in this case) so this was the best way Gabriel could say it.  
  
Loki laughed softly.  
  
“It was not a threat.” He promised grinning.  
  
 _Just a warning…_ Again the god had to bite his lip to not say out loud what he was thinking. Instead he answered Gabriel’s second question.  
  
“I would love to.” Loki said thoughtfully, trying to find out what the archangel planning.  
  
“Not a threat then.” He repeated once more and turned around so that the god couldn’t see his smile about that.  
  
“Come on, we need some mirrors. Well, one.” He started walking towards the stairs to open the door to the biggest bedroom upstairs then. One of the walls was one huge mirror.  
  
“Usually I just have these walls in houses where I can bring girls – or other guys, I don’t really care about that – and usually the bed his bigger in those rooms. But this is just what we need for what I am going to show you.” And there it was again. The grin that was meant to convince himself that he wasn’t sad at all.  
  
Loki had silently followed the archangel. Sceptically he looked at the mirror and frowned.  
  
“What are you going to show me then?” The god asked, ignoring Gabriel’s comment about his lovers. _And why do you have_ _a_ _mirror this big?  
_  
Gabriel looked at Loki in the mirror and smiled. “My true form. You can’t look directly at it but I know a way how it won’t burn your eyes out and that requires a mirror.” truth was, Gabriel wasn't sure. Maybe a god was able to look at it, maybe a god was able to hear his real voice. Everything he knew was tried with humans.  
  
The god’s jaw dropped. “ _You_ trust _me_ enough to show me your true form?” Loki asked just to make sure he had heard right.  
  
Gabriel shrugged smiling. “Not trust. Just enough faith that you will not try to harm my world and something to convince myself that I have something to call family maybe.”  
  
“Well, that is good enough for me.” The god mumbled softly and smiled slightly.  
  
“Shall we begin then?”  
  
The smile formed into a wide grin and Loki enthusiastically clapped his hands.  
  
“One more thing. Two, actually. Tell me when you feel like the energy that goes over to you is too much, maybe you could burst into pieces when I’m not careful enough. And don’t think that just because it’s my true form it’s my true size. That would fit into no building on earth.” He cut into his palm to get some blood onto his fingers and painted some signs into the four edges of the mirror while talking. When he stood next to Loki again the glass began to turn black. It still showed their reflection but just as faded white lines.  
  
Interested, Loki watched closely what Gabriel was doing. Even if he didn’t believe so it could become useful someday.  
  
 _Giant ball of energy._ The god reminded himself. _Do not act too surprised_.  
  
Gabriel looked at his work and nodded satisfied.  
  
“When I tell you to, you close your eyes and don’t open them until I say it’s okay. You wouldn’t like the feeling of your eyeballs melting and running down your face. The other thing that could happen would give you black holes instead of eyes which isn’t very pleasant either.” He stood next to Loki now and looked directly at him.  
  
“I can imagine that.” The god agreed grinning. He nodded at the archangel, as if he wanted to say: ‘Do not worry my friend, I understood it.’  
  
Impatiently, Loki rubbed his hands and chuckled.  
  
Gabriel placed a hand on the god’s forearm and mumbled some words. The reflections faded to blackness and a small glowing ball appeared where Loki stood. It was a nice white and brighter than when he looked at a human soul – which was their part of greatest energy.  
  
“That’s _your_ energy. Isn’t it strange how you can get so much destruction and healing power out of this little light?” He smiled a little.  
  
“I imagined it bigger.” Loki grumbled and looked at the ball of energy. It was kind of hypnotizing, the god thought.  
  
Shaking his head he focused on Gabriel again. _A ball of pure energy, as tall as the tallest buildings of the humans._ He reminded himself and sighed.  
  
“Oh well, try concentrating it on one of your hands or something.” He smiled and looked at it attentive himself. There was so much you could learn from just looking at someone’s energy-form.  
  
Frowning, Loki did what he was told. He reached his hand into the direction of the energy ball and started to concentrate. The white light changed and made Loki grin. “That is better.” He chuckled.  
  
The ball had formed into a green flame, which was constantly growing.  
  
Gabriel smiled satisfied and spoke the words again so the light disappeared. He moved to stand behind the god and placed both hands on Loki’s elbows.  
  
Where he stood a light brighter than white appeared and started creeping into all parts of his body until there was a glowing reflection of his vessel. “Close your eyes now.”  
  
He made sure that Loki did and let the protections drop further. He knew that the god could see everything just like when his eyes were open. No, scratch that. If his eyes were opened he’d probably be blinded by the white that surrounded him.  
  
Loki had immediately closed his eyes and held his breath. What he saw, or didn’t saw, or felt, or whatever, was incredible. A soft sound, something between awe and envy escaped the god. “Truly impressive…” Loki whispered softly.  
  
Gabriel would have smiled but he used all his control to not burn the Norse but show him as much as possible.  
  
He could … just some more… he felt more and more of his grace slipping through and reaching out for Loki. It felt the power of the trickster’s energy and wanted to protect him by wrapping him in – that was how souls were carried to Heaven when angels possessed a human. That shouldn’t happen but as long as Loki felt okay with it … charging his powers to 150 or 200 percent could be bad or a really good thing. Gabriel wasn’t sure yet.  
  
Suddenly Loki stiffened. It felt like the energy wrapped itself around him.  
  
“Wha-” The god tried to ask, but was interrupted by his own magic core, which seemed to develop a life of it’s own.  
  
 _That can not be good..._ Loki thought and tried to calm down.  
  
His own energy was reaching out for Gabriel’s and the god had no control over it.  
  
Gabriel felt the shift in Loki’s mood and tried to be more careful. He wanted to step back a little but he was a bit scared about what could happen so he just darkened the light surrounding them. Loki hadn’t complained about pain yet so …  
  
“Try opening your eyes slowly. Careful. Shut them when it is still too bright.” He knew about the effect of the slightly sparkling, more than white light on other beings but Loki was special in a good way which was probably because he was so powerful himself. Time to test the theory that a god reacted different than humans.  
  
Ignoring the pull of his magical core, the god slowly opened his eyes and nearly choked, so surprised was he. With an open mouth Loki looked at the glittering light. He had to blink a few times to get used to it’s brightness, but then it didn’t feel bad to look at it. There were no words to describe the light, at least no words Loki knew. It was beautiful, in a way. But it reminded him of the funeral lights, which Asgardians released into the air. They sailed into the nightsky until they looked like one of the many stars. _That is what the light looks like._ The god thought slightly smiling. _A star_.  
  
Gabriel smiled for real now but he knew that Loki couldn’t see his vessel’s face. So far so good. He was a little afraid of talking. _Do you want to try with my real voice or are you afraid of high, piercing sounds?  
_  
Loki nearly choked again when he heard Gabriel in his head. He made a mental note to get used to things like that, before he answered.  
  
 _Oh, please. I do like high, piercing sounds._ There was a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice, but Loki was curious about how Gabriel really sounded.  
  
 _Maybe you’ll hear me just okay_ he half pouted half laughed.  
  
“I will not break my promise, brother.” _okay?_ He tried and just hoped for the best. He hadn’t heard his own voice in a long time and suddenly understood why humans were talking about angelic singing all the time all over again. He hadn’t forgotten, it just faded like a lot of memories did. But he never forgot.  
  
Loki took in a sharp breath and smiled.  
  
“I know.” He simply answered and laughed softly. Well, Gabriel’s voice was high and piercing, but it was melodic, too. Actually, it was quite pleasant to listen to.  
  
“This is unbelievable…” he said before he began to tuck his grace and with it all the bright light back into his vessel, until there was just a shape of his body and his wings in the mirror to be seen. He let his hands drop next to his body and smiled brightly. “You shouldn’t be able to open your eyes and no way you should hear my voice as _words_. Wait, was it more some kind of a feeling or real words?” His voice was back to 'normal'. He stepped next to the god so he could face him properly.  
  
The god grinned and shrugged.  
  
“That makes me special, does it not?”  
  
A soft chuckle escaped him. Gabriel should be aware, that he was stronger than the mortals. “I can not describe it.” Loki answered after some time. “It was something between both.”  
  
Gabriel chuckled silently. “Special, yes.” The angel smiled.  
  
“Perfect. And even then I was afraid that my grace could tuck you in completely for a second … it seems like it wasn’t that bad.” Loki’s energy appeared next to his own again and was obviously brighter now.  
  
Satisfied Loki nodded. Perfect, yes that was a word he would use to describe himself. When he looked at his own energy again, the god frowned.  
  
“Why is it brighter than before?” He asked more than a bit curiously. It had annoyed him, that his core obviously had developed a life of it’s own.  
  
“My grace is something floating when it isn’t contained in a human vessel and I can’t control all of it. So when it feels another strong, magically energy it tries to sort of melt with it? No … it’s a little like sewing stuff together tightly and ripping it off again. A little stays behind but it’ll get lost again in about two or three days. Maybe four.” He explained and looked at the glowing reflection of the god.  
  
“Great.” The god sighed, but grinned.  
  
“And what does that mean exactly? Now that a part of your energy is left with my energy, can I do what you can do now?” He chuckled slightly. _That_ would be a fortunate accident.  
  
Gabriel shrugged. “I don’t know. This never happened to me before but you could at least try it.” He grinned.  
  
Gabriel crossed the blood-signs in the corners out and soon it was a normal mirror again.  
  
Loki took a deep breath and smiled, when everything seemed to be normal again.  
  
“What do suggest then, dear Gabriel? I am not as familiar with your powers as you are.” He chuckled lightly and looked at his hands. What was he capable of now?  
  
Gabriel had to think about that for a second. “How about trying teleportation? There is a kind of it that is not too difficult because you don’t have to build the path you are walking yourself. I’ll go and when you are able to see something that feels like a door or something similar you have to open it. It’s not that easy for most of us at the beginning because you don’t really see but feel them and you open them just in your mind. That is the way I can follow other angels – and Crowley – the easiest. If you’d like to try that.” He wouldn’t go too far for the first try since it was still more difficult than manifesting things or changing clothes.  
  
“Sounds good.” Loki agreed grinning. It didn’t seem to be to hard and since the god was a skilled magician, it would be easy for him. “Let us begin then.”  
  
The archangel nodded and was gone the second he stepped forward. He had chosen to go to the top of the waterfall in the woods behind the mansion. It was even more beautiful looking down from the top and it was a way that Loki should be able to manage.  
  
Skeptical, Loki crossed his arms and concentrated his senses on the door Gabriel described. A few seconds later there really was something that vaguely felt like a passage. A slight grin formed on the god’s face. On the first try it was a bit difficult to ‘open’ it. But the second time Loki managed to step through it. There was a slight pull, like when he stepped through one of Yggdrasil’s paths.  
  
Gabriel stood on the edge of the waterfall, where water met grass. If he stepped just a few inches further back he’d fall. He faced the god when he joined him outside and smiled.  
  
“That was quite fast for the first time. How did it feel?” If it had hurt then they shouldn’t do this again. Pain was never a good sign when it was about angelic powers.  
  
“It felt like stepping through a path of Yggdrasil.” Loki repeated his thoughts.  
  
“Do you remember how that felt?”  
  
A smile formed on his lips as the god looked at his beautiful surroundings.  
  
“Yeah, yeah I do remember. It doesn’t feel that way to me but trying to find out why would take a long time, probably.” He smiled again and crossed his arms. “So, did you see me doing anything you want to try or do you want to try with teleportation again?” _Or you can go and do whatever you_ really _want to do now if that’s destroying another world or whatever I can’t hold you back_.  
  
“Oh, I just want to enjoy the view.” Even though Loki was a vengeful god, he still enjoyed the beauty of nature. The smile on his face grew wider and a soft laugh escaped him. He still had all the time of the world to destroy Asgard, so why not relax a bit before doing that?  
  
“That’s fine with me, too. I used to be here from sunrise until sunset to fly with the birds and just spend some time with my brother. We sometimes didn’t return to Heaven in days.” He turned around to look at the trees now in front of him. _You are talking about old times far too much_ he sighed.  
  
“That reminds me of the times I went hunting with Thor in the forest of Asgard.” Loki answered absentmindedly and chuckled.  
  
“Days and days of striding through the woods, mostly without talking. The one thing Thor took seriously was hunting.”  
  
“I sometimes wish I was still back then. I could go there but it wouldn’t be the same.” He stared at the trees a few more moments and shook his head as if he wanted to get rid of the thoughts that way. “But I can’t change how things are. We are managing pretty well if you’d ask me. I mean, we are both still alive.” He smiled.  
  
“I died. Twice.” The god reminded his friend and shook his head.  
  
But he agreed with his friend. Sometimes Loki wished that everything was like the past again.  
  
“Dead like, dead and gone and not dead like, fucking with everyone’s heads and not telling _anyone_.” He mumbled silently and looked down to where the water hit the stones.  
  
Loki sighed softly and instantly his mood dropped.  
  
“I am truly sorry, Gabriel. It was not my intention to hurt you.”  
  
He focused on the archangel and tried to smile.  
  
“Can you forgive me someday?”  
  
Gabriel smiled sadly, looking over to him. “Probably. I’m an angel after all. We were made to fight and protect, love and forgive. Strange but true.” He shrugged again and grinned then. _Enough of the nice landscape.  
_  
He let himself fall forward and turned so he fell backwards, looking up at Loki. He didn’t hit the water, though. He disappeared out of the trickster’s view and stood between the trees the next second. He didn’t care how Loki was going to get down there but he himself would go back up.  
  
Grinning, the god rolled his eyes. Gabriel was – like the mortals said – a drama queen after all. Using the technique the archangel had showed him earlier, Loki teleported next to him. A smug grin formed on his lips.  
  
“You learn faster than Castiel did. I was the one looking after the small ones for some time. Teaching them and all that.” He smiled brightly, maybe he was even a little proud.  
  
“Oh the pet angel?” Loki asked with a raised eyebrow.  
  
“But I remember how you told me that you were good with children.”  
  
The god returned the smile and chuckled softly. His mother had always told him he learned fast, too.  
  
Gabriel was a little surprised that Loki remembered Gabriel calling Castiel ‘pet-angel’.  
  
“I am. And sometimes they’re more than just annoying but I always dealt with them without hurting them.” He chuckled silently.  
  
“Well, I certainly am not that patient.” The god stated laughing. Then he remembered his own children and sighed. Odin had banished them, because they had been a danger to Asgard and the other realms. _Ridiculous_. Loki thought darkly. _They were just_ _ **children**_ _!  
_  
Gabriel started walking on an invisible path. He walked that way all the time when he came there and never lost it.  
  
“We aren’t free to decide about our character. There are things that every angel has such as patience and loyalty. But some of us learn that there can be more.”  
  
“Everyone does that.”  
  
Loki rolled his eyes a bit while he copied every of Gabriel’s move.  
  
The angels weren’t _that_ special, in Loki’s opinion. Well, at least Loki told himself that.  
  
“Angels never question anything. When someone like me, one of the mighty, tells them that something has to be done then so be it. They’ll do it. But when they start spending time with humans – like Castiel – they sometimes start to question what they are told. And that’s when they fall, lose their wings, powers and memories sometimes and live as human or die.” He shrugged a little. He never liked that but that how most of the things were working for a long time. “Cas is special, though…” he added silently.  
  
“Really?” The god asked and frowned. That was a bit… _extreme_ , but than again, so was he. “What makes Castiel special, then?”  
  
In his voice you could clearly hear the interest, but if you asked Loki about it, he would deny it.  
  
Gabriel turned his head to smile at the god. “He didn’t just start thinking. He is part of ‘Team Free Will’ and yes, he fell, but he has gotten his grace back and is an angel again. And as long as I can decide such things I will do everything so he can be free and learn from the Winchesters. I don’t know, he’s been through more than most angels.”  
  
Loki nodded slowly. “So he is not just the pet angel anymore…” He mumbled and frowned.  
  
 _This Castiel is very interesting._ The god thought. _He risks to lose his status as an angel only to protect the Brothers. But why?  
_  
“I just call him that. He used to be one of the best warriors I knew and when I found out that he was chosen to pull Dean out of Hell I wasn’t exactly happy about it. He was damned from the moment he raised the hunter. But he deals with it pretty well.” He had to smile again when he thought about his little brother.  
  
“The Winchester was in the underworld?” Loki asked surprised. There weren’t many people, well mortals, who found a way to return to their own realm after they die.  
  
“That is quite impressive.” He admitted through clenched teeth.  
  
Gabriel nodded. “His brother Sam died and he made a deal to get him back that brought himself to Hell but Castiel was told to get him back out and here they are, both of them.” He smiled a little. Loki didn’t seem to like that too much.  
  
The god sighed in frustration. Why could the mortals return from the dead when they desired to? It wasn’t right!  
  
“Both are alive and well…” He grumbled and tried to stop himself from grinning.  
  
“They were meant to be Lucifer’s and Michael’s vessels and one should have killed the other. They didn’t want to and now things are like they are. It’s okay though. They are quite nice sometimes.” He took a look around and was surprised that he could already see the mansion.  
  
“Yes, I saw how entertaining they could be.” He chuckled mostly to himself and followed Gabriel’s gaze. From a distant the mansion didn’t look to bad, Loki realized and laughed.  
  
“What are we doing now?” He asked silently after some time.  
  
Gabriel looked up at the snow white , small clouds and thought about that.  
  
“I don’t know, getting drunk or swimming?” He chuckled.  
  
The god chuckled softly. A glass of wine or two wouldn’t hurt, right? “I would prefer your first suggestion.” Loki said with an amused grin.  
  
“Okay then. Do you want to get me some human alcohol or do you want to let the poison get you drunk?” He raised an eyebrow and smiled.  
  
“Everything is better than the alcohol of the mortals.”  
  
Loki grinned and took a deep breath. Even though he didn’t like that he would drink poison, the god remembered how good the drink had tasted. A small chuckle escaped him.  
  
“If you say so.” Gabriel laughed a little and opened the backdoors with a thought. He got two glasses out of a cupboard and filled them with the liquid. He passed one of them to Loki when he returned into the garden and sat down onto the marble bench.  
  
Loki quickly took a deep sip out of the glass and set down next to Gabriel. His gaze slowly wandered over the horizon and the god had to smile. Everything seemed to be right again.  
  
“You are planning to destroy most of the realms, right? So where do you want to go after that? You don’t seem to like earth pretty much so … where?” He took a sip and looked at Loki.  
  
“I will wander outside of Yggdrasil’s path.” Loki began and smiled slightly. “There are worlds not even the allfather knows about and I am going to explore them.” _Maybe the creatures there are more friendly than the chitauri…_ The god grinned at Gabriel and shook his head.  
  
Gabriel pulled one side of his lips up to a small smile. “So you’ll be pretty far away.” His eyes were a little sad but actually he was glad that Loki seemed to know a way to get at least a little happy.  
  
“Why do you not come with me?” Loki asked suddenly and took another sip of his drink. He didn’t dare to look Gabriel in the eyes, he was too afraid of what he may saw in them.  
  
“I would love to.” He emptied his glass. “But I’m afraid I’ll have to stay here. Heaven would be in chaos again and I’ve been gone far too long already… Sometimes you have to let go what you want to do what you have to do.”  
  
With a forced smile, Loki nodded. He emptied his glass and sighed.  
  
“I will write you a letter then” The god said jokingly. To his surprise, the alcohol already showed an effect on him. Loki grinned a bit and looked at the horizon again.  
  
“As if. ‘Talking’ while having an angel’s feather is a good thing because it isn’t … distracted by distances in any way.” He grinned a little.  
  
“Hey, try this. Wish for your glass to be full again. Don’t try to force it, just ask it to be refilled without speaking.”  
  
Loki looked at Gabriel with a weird look, but did what he wanted anyway. _Dear glass._ The god thought and felt a bit ridiculous. _Would you refill yourself, please?_  
  
And immediately the glass was filled with the liquid again, which made Loki jump.  
  
Gabriel laughed and he would have clapped, too, but he had refilled his own glass and didn’t want to waste any of the liquid. “Isn’t it annoying how friendly angelic powers can be?” A smile remained on his lips.  
  
“It is annoying how friendly _you_ have to be to _them_.” Loki grumbled and took a big sip out of his glass.  
  
He had to laugh, that was all so absurd! He was sitting with an archangel in front of a mansion on Midgard, getting intoxicated. The god never thought he would do something like that.  
  
It didn’t take him long to empty the glass again. So he would get drunk in the end, that would give him some time without thinking maybe.  
  
“You get used to it and tired of it at the same time. It’s awful…”  
  
“Sorry.” Loki mumbled and emptied his glass with the next sip, refilling it like he did before.  
He didn’t what else he could say, the alcohol was working faster than the god thought.  
  
“ _That_ is not your fault at all. Whatever…” he picked up one of the flowers growing next to the bench and looked at it, studying it for longer than he’d do without drinking. It was just nicer when he cared a little less about the important thinks and thinks like flowers and their colors got into his focus.  
  
“What a nice flower.” Loki said to fill the awkward silence and chuckled. “So.. pretty and flowery.”  
  
The god rolled his eyes at his own behavior, but Thor was way worse when he got drunk.  
  
Gabriel started laughing silently and let the flower drop to place the hand over his mouth in order to try to stop laughing. “Flowery, indeed.” He got out after some time.  
  
Loki started to laugh too, not being able to stop.  
  
“ _Very_ flowery!” He chuckled and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.  
  
“And it’s easier for them. Flowers don’t have to make flowery decisions they’re just flowery without doing something about it.” He emptied the next glass. “But I don’t think a flower could ever get to rule some kind of anything? They aren’t even talking.”  
  
“But what if they have a little flower kingdom?” Loki asked seriously and took a deep sip of his own drink.  
  
“And they rule it like generous gods?”  
  
“They can’t move or talk or do anything but drinking and absorbing sunlight and air. If I’d do just that all the time Heaven would have exploded by now or something like that. I mean … it would have looked nice, probably. Sparkling light everywhere and when- oh look the sun already sets…” he got a little distracted.  
  
“It is red, like blood.” Loki agreed a bit slowly. “Or the eyes of a frostgiant. Or red apples. Or Thor’s cape. Or a sunset.”  
  
The god chuckled softly and refilled his glass, which he emptied again in the matter of a second.  
  
As soon as the sky was dark enough Gabriel looked at the first stars appearing there.  
  
“Red. Reeed. That’s a strange word. Red. Why is it called red? It could be green as well. Or blue. Who chose red? My wings are red, aren’t they red? I think a part of them is red.”  
  
The god had a thoughtful look on his face, overlayered by a veil of ignorance. “But you could call red green.” He said suddenly and focused on Gabriel. “That would make your wings _green_!” Loki’s mouth formed a small ‘o’, when he realized what he had said.  
  
“But I’d still know that they’re actually red. And when red is green what is green then?” He frowned and tried to figure it out while taking another sip.  
  
“Yellow!” The god shouted without thinking and began to laugh uncontrollably.  
  
“Or… or… blue! Yes, yes, yes. Blue is good, blue is the sky, yes, yes.” Loki mumbled to himself for some time, before he drank another glass of the liquid.  
  
“But no! What would blue be then? I mean, blue. It’s an important color. Is it? I don’t know…” he stood up and started walking around and looking at some more flowers.  
  
Without thinking, Loki followed his friend and nearly stumbled over his own feet.  
  
“Purple.” He concluded after some time and snickered. “Nobody needs purple!”  
  
He picked up a red flower and stared at it, as if it had done something bad to him.  
  
Gabriel started laughing like a maniac and let himself fall to the ground. The soft grass tickled his skin and all around him red flowers started to grow until he couldn’t see Loki’s legs anymore from where he was.  
  
The god crossed his arms in a pouting manner. With a nod of his head, the red flowers began to burn down. But the motion made him lose his balance and the god fell down like a wet sack. A laugh escaped the god, as he tried to find the glass he had dropped, when his face had made contact with the dirt.  
  
Gabriel couldn’t stop laughing and when he figured out that drinking wasn’t exactly easy while lying down, he sat up to empty two more glasses and wish the glass away afterwards. He couldn’t tell where it went but … well … he didn’t care. “You are an idiot. The flowers were beautiful!”  
  
Loki frowned and began to laugh like, well, an idiot.  
  
“They were _red_!” He answered between to laughter, as if that would explain. He rolled onto his back and stared into the sky, where hundreds of stars illuminated the night.  
  
“When there is an extremely bright star falling down to earth it’s no thing from space, not always. It’s an angel losing his wings sometimes.. ” Gabriel held one of his arms up as if he wanted to point at something but forgot what. And he forgot taking the arm back down, too.  
  
“That is sad…” Loki said and he really meant it, even though his drunken mind couldn’t fully understand what Gabriel had said.  
  
“Seems comfortable.” Loki laughed and copied the archangels actions, pointing his arm at the sky.  
  
“What? Oh. Sad. But what exactly is ‘sad’. I mean, dead kittens are sad. And …I can’t remember…” He turned his head to Loki. It was actually kind of comfortable.  
  
“I love kittens.” The god sighed. “They are so.. so..” Frustrated Loki sighed, he couldn’t remember what he had wanted to say.  
  
“See that star?” He asked after some time, not pointing at any star in particular.  
  
Gabriel tried to remember that one special spell and out of the sudden there were some cats of all ages walking around them.  
  
“There are a lot of stars…” he reminded Loki.  
  
“Oh cats!” Loki shouted and shrieked like an excited girl. He completely ignored Gabriel’s reminder. The god just walked around, naming all the cats.  
  
Gabriel sat up again and smiled happily while he watched the god.  
  
“How do you think of so many names so fast?” He asked and picked one of the younger up to cuddle a little.  
  
“I just throw some letters together.” Loki explained happily and picked up a black kitten.  
“And you shall be named… Jesus!”  
  
The cat seemed to meow in protest, but Loki ignored it completely and hugged it gently.  
  
“Nooooo that guy was no fun! Not at all! Re-name it!” Gabriel demanded and tried to stand up without letting go of the cat. He failed and just stayed where he was.  
  
“Hmm…” Loki said and looked at the cat with a wide grin. “How about Gabrielle? Yes, yes. You shall be Gabrielle!” The cat meowed again, as if it wanted to say ‘I am not a girl, you fucking idiot!’. But the god was too drunk to care and just smiled.  
  
“You are an idiot.” He smiled fondly and his voice had the same soft sound. _Did I already mention that? Maybe I- oh look how many cats!_ He petted the cat he still held while he looked up at Loki.  
  
The god sighed deeply and sat down next to Gabriel, gently moving the cats out of the way so he wouldn’t hurt them.  
  
“Yes, I probably am.” He admitted and smiled at the archangel.  
  
“But at least I am beautiful.”  
  
“You are beautiful, princess, you are.” Gabriel let his cat hop away and started petting Loki’s back a little. “I didn’t mean it like that. We both are.” He sighed deeply.  
  
“Beautiful?” Loki asked and frowned. “Or idiots?”  
  
He let go of the black cat called Gabrielle and focused on the archangel, which turned out to be harder than the black haired god originally had thought.  
  
Gabriel frowned. “I can’t remember. Idiots, probably…” he shook his head to try to get his thoughts a little straighter and in an order of any kind but that wasn’t as easy ass he would have hoped.  
  
Loki seemed to be in deep thought, but suddenly he nodded multiple times. “That would indeed make sense!” He exclaimed happily, as if he had found the answer to every question he ever had had.  
  
“Whatwhatwhat?” He talked so fast that his voice got an octave higher than usual.  
  
He looked at the god and smiled. He somehow felt like smiling a lot when he was intoxicated.  
  
The god jumped up, nearly losing his balance again. A wide grin was forming on his lips and Loki began to gesture wildly. “We are _idiots_!”  
  
A laugh escaped him, when he jumped up and down excitedly. “Because of that I do stupid things without thinking about it and you can not forgive that!”  
  
Gabriel got to his feet – with a little less grace than he would have wished for but he couldn’t focus properly anyway.  
  
“Does that even make sense?” He wasn’t so sure.  
  
“ _Everything_ makes sense” Loki said stubbornly and crossed his arms. Gabriel had no right to question his logic, he was drunk! But then again, so was Loki.  
  
Gabriel stated laughing again. “If you say so…” he wandered off a little further than before. It was more a process of trying to not fall down to the ground.  
  
“Hey, Loki!” He shouted. “Would you promise me something?”  
  
“Sure.” Loki shouted back and chuckled. “As long as it does not involve a really high wall and a horse.” He began to hum softly as he tried to follow Gabriel.  
  
It took Gabriel a second. What was it again that he wanted promised..?  
  
“Tell me now and then. Tell me that you are okay and you are still alive when you go and discover all the places, okay? And if you get yourself killed I will bring you back – I will find a way – to kill you again myself!” He sighed and almost fell over one of the cats.  
  
“Fine. I think I can do that.” Loki answered slowly after some time.  
  
He began to laugh again, without an apparent reason.  
  
“But only when you promise me to not get mad if I kill someone.”  
  
“As long as there are enough humans to survive I don’t mind if you kill anyone. Well, angels. They shouldn’t die…” He turned around, picked one of the cats up and walked to stand next to Loki.  
  
“Fine.” Loki repeated and cuddled the cat the archangel held.  
  
“I love cats.” He laughed and sighed softly.  
  
Suddenly the god had to sneeze, what made him remember that he was allergic to cats.  
  
Gabriel had to laugh and let the cat jump off his arm and sighed softly. “So fragile and yet with such a strong personality…”  
  
He looked up at the god’s face. “You know you are important to me, don’t you?”  
  
Loki had to swallow the lump, that suddenly build up in his throat.  
  
The god didn’t know what to say and even if he had been sober, he hadn’t found the right words. Nobody ever said something like that to Loki, at least he didn’t remember someone telling him he was important.  
  
Gabriel couldn’t do anything else but smile. Not the trickster-smile, an earnest and yet almost fond smile. “Family is important. You are family. All I have.” He shrugged.  
  
Suddenly Loki hugged Gabriel tightly, without the intention to ever let go.  
  
“I love you, brother!” He practically shouted.  
  
The last bit of his reasonable side was gone, the god was nothing but a drunk mess. Well, a crying, drunk mess. His body shook uncontrollably with sobs and is green eyes were watery. Had Loki been sober, this never would’ve happened.  
  
Gabriel didn’t expect that but he hugged him back and stroked the god’s back to soothe him a little. He couldn’t remember how to use his powers for that but he wouldn’t have wanted that anyway. “I love you too, it’s okay, it’s okay. You won’t be lonely ever again. All you have to do is call.” He promised and rested his head against Loki’s shoulder.  
  
“I will.” The god mumbled between two sobs.  
  
It probably was weird to hug so long, but Loki didn’t care. He simply tightened the embrace and sighed. It had been a long time since anybody ever held him like that.  
  
“We are so drunk…” The black haired god said, after he had calmed down a bit. “Let us never talk about this again.”  
  
Gabriel nodded and sighed on the inside. Why had everyone to be drunk to tell him he mattered? “Better not. No one should know about this I think.” His voice was silent but loud enough for the god to hear it.  
  
“Especially not the Winchesters.” The god agreed silently.  
  
He didn’t let go of Gabriel, somehow he felt really comfortable right now. Comfortable and tired. Loki closed his eyes and grinned.  
  
“Especially not the Winchesters,” Gabriel repeated once more.  
  
“Getting sleepy, kiddo?” He smiled but didn’t let go of Loki. “I will miss you.” He admitted.  
  
“Maybe I will stay.” The god whispered after some time. “Maybe I could bear to rule, without destroying everything, when I visit you as often as possible.”  
  
A slight smile formed on the god’s lips. That would be a possibility to make everyone happy.  
  
Gabriel smiled a little. “You’re free to visit me whenever you want. But now…” he was glad that he was sober enough to stand upright without trouble again – when he wanted to stay drunk he had to keep drinking. He could still feel a little of the carelessness remaining though. He picked the god up by pushing him off his legs and catching him before he could hit the ground and smiled. “…we bring you to bed, kiddo.”  
  
The god made a protesting sound and tried to free himself from Gabriel’s grip.  
  
“You can not do that to a _king_!” He hissed softly, but a small grin appeared on his face. “I _will_ end you!” Loki had to admit that he was getting really tired, but that still didn’t justify the archangel carrying him into bed.  
  
Gabriel chuckled slightly. “Oh shut that pretty mouth of yours, princess.” He started walking inside and the doors shut behind them. He remembered which bedroom had chosen once and carried him in that direction.  
  
“You have no right to do this!” Loki whined. “This room is not worthy enough to be slept in!” The god made a frustrated sound and tried again to shake off Gabriel’s arms.  
  
When the god started struggling too bad Gabriel sat him down just to get one arm under his legs and one under his arms again to lock him in a maybe a little too strong bridal style. “So what. You want to sleep in my bed?” His room was the biggest one with the huge mirror and glass on another wall with old and seldom stuff, some of it just pretty with colorful stones and some that shouldn’t be touched.  
  
Loki didn’t even attempt to fight again, he simply sighed and crossed his arms in frustration. “That would be a bit odd, do you not think?” He grumbled and frowned. Why did Gabriel suggest a thing like that?  
  
“You were complaining, not me. So stop that or come with me. Your choice.” He laughed silently. Loki was still way more drunk than he himself.  
  
He had stayed where he was so that he wouldn’t have to go back and bring the god elsewhere.  
  
“Just drop me on the floor.” Loki said resigned and let his head drop onto his chest.  
  
“It is as good as any other place on midgard.” A soft sigh escaped him, followed by a slight chuckle. Slowly the god noticed how ridiculous he behaved.  
  
“You can be such a drama queen, you know that, kiddo?” He sighed and brought the god upstairs and into the bed inside of his room. He tucked the blanket over him and sat down into one of the two old armchairs in one corner of the room. “See, an angel’s watching over you. Sleep now.”  
  
The god had stopped to protest and even though the effect of the alcohol was slowly fading, the tiredness stayed.  
  
“Fine.” Loki simply said and rolled over, curling himself into a ball. Hidden for the archangel, a smile sneaked onto Loki’s face as he closed his eyes.  
  
When Gabriel had made sure that there was everything alright with the god he let himself slip into the imitation of sleep that he did now and then. He listened to Loki’s steady breath and even though he wasn’t 100 percent inside the room he would have noticed anything out of order.


End file.
